The Clearing
by Ronaele Emmett
Summary: It's Halloween at Camp Half-Blood, and everyone is preparing for the big Halloween night party. But during the festivities, Percy and Annabeth sneak away to a romantic and mysterious clearing in the forest.


I hurried to the Aphrodite cabin for my costume. The Aphrodite girls had put themselves in charge of girls' costumes for the Halloween dance. Well, the guys don't like to call it a dance, they call it a party. I guess it sounds manlier to them or whatever.

I am dressing up as Joan of Arc, one of my favorite historical heroines. I chose a simple white Greek style dress to wear, with ropes tied loosely around my waist and ashes smeared on me, to represent when she was burned at the stake. Paisley, a daughter of Aphrodite, tried to persuade me to tie the ropes tight around my waist. To show my "figure" she says. I declined as patiently and politely as I could. I prefer to have the ropes just resting on my hips, so that I can breathe during the party.

"Annabeth! Hi!" Paisley waved to me. I waved back. "I was just on my way back from the lake," she told me. "Did you know that the nymphs have the best makeup tips for our costumes?" All of the girls in her cabin were going as vampires together.

"No, I didn't know that," I replied, trying not to sound bored out of my mind, "I'll remember that." We walked the rest of the way to her cabin together. When we walked in, everything was in chaos. They had pushed beds aside and moved in several tables as makeup stations. I counted six curtained off makeshift dressing rooms in the whole cabin, not including the bathroom. I know that sounds like a lot of stuff to fit in one cabin, but somehow they managed to squeeze.

One girl was yelling at another to stop hogging the bathroom, while another had started changing in the middle of the room, as there were no dressing rooms available. Fortunately, all the boys had gathered in the Hermes cabin to get ready.

There was a long row of hooks along one wall of the Aphrodite cabin to hold costumes. I snatched my dress off of a hook and headed for a makeshift dressing room to wait. Though it seemed like forever, I finally put on my dress in an empty corner. I slipped the ropes around my waist and hurried to a makeup station, which was run by Delaney. She smiled at me and tucked a curl of hair behind her ear. Delaney was really nice, but I often found myself staring enviously at her chocolate colored ringlets.

"Ok, girls!" yelled a girl named Drew. "We have an hour and a half left until the party!" Delaney dipped a brush in black, sooty powder and smeared a little on my face, arms, and dress. She applied my mascara and eyeliner, then paused to examine my face.

"Hmm… emerald green eye shadow or fiery red would really set off your eyes," Delaney murmured thoughtfully.

"Let's go with fiery red," I decided. She finished my eye makeup and put the tiniest bit of gloss on my lips. Lastly, Paisley braided my hair down my back and sprinkled more fake ashes on my face.

"There," said Paisley with a smile. "You look gorgeous!"

"Thanks," I smiled back.

"Attention!" Drew blew a whistle and the room went quiet. "If your costume has been done, please exit to the tent out back and wait for the rest of us." Almost everyone besides the Aphrodite daughters left the cabin. I went along with them.

One hour later, we all filed down to the lake, where the huge party tent was up. I heard music blaring, and suddenly I felt giddy with excitement.

The girl that was in the front of the line turned around. At first I didn't recognize her; she was wearing so much makeup. Then I realized that the girl was Drew, wearing a skimpy tank top and mini skirt, like her half-sisters, and she had temporarily died her skin a light purple color. And though the makeup made me cringe, it fit the costume.

I had gotten as little makeup as possible; just enough to make my eyes look darker. And, maybe for Percy, too. I mean, I want him to like me the way I am, but it can be fun to get a little dressed up sometimes, for special occasions. And I'd say that this was a special occasion. We have not been able to really celebrate holidays like this very much, due to the normal demigod happenings. Oh, and if you ever tell anyone that, I'll run you through with my dagger, which, by the way, I had strapped to my waist. It fit the costume nicely, and I would be ready in case there were any unplanned monster attacks.

"Alright girls," Drew said to the crowd. "Who is ready to get their party on?" All of the girls in there started cheering. I cheered along with them, but not as loud. I admit, I was pretty excited.

Drew linked arms with her cabin mates and sauntered into the party tent. Cheering arose from everyone inside. When it was my turn, I took a deep breath and walked in. I didn't swing my hips like Drew and her cabin mates, I just walked in.

Immediately Tyson, who was dressed as a pumpkin, yelled,

"YAY ANNABETH!" Percy grinned at me. He wore a black suit with a matching cape, his hair slicked back, and his collar was sticking up. Chiron trotted up to me.

"Welcome, Annabeth!" He smiled warmly.

"Thanks," I replied. As I joined Percy and Tyson, their eyes widened in shock. "What? What's wrong?" I asked in alarm. Percy laughed.

"No, nothing is wrong… it's just… you're wearing makeup!" Tyson nodded in agreement.

"Annabeth looks very pretty tonight," he said seriously.

"Thanks Tyson," I laughed too. Suddenly, I heard a shout from the middle of the room. Grover was breakdancing, Juniper and the other nymphs cheering him on.

"GROVER! GROVER! GROVER!" They yelled.

"PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES!" Tyson raced toward the snack tables, nearly colliding with an angry nymph. I leaned closer to Percy.

"Um, how many cookies has he had so far?" I asked.

Percy shrugged. "I lost count. Hey, do you want to see something cool?" He asked me.

"Sure." He took my hand and we ran out of the tent and into the forest. After a while, we reached a small clearing with a pond. The moon shone down on the water, and it sparkled like something from a romance novel that Paisley tried to get me to borrow.

"That's weird," I commented. "I've never seen this place before."

"Yeah, that's because the nymphs put this together for us. It's real, but only for tonight. Tomorrow it will be gone. They put it in a different place each year, Halloween night. Kids rarely find it.

"How did you find it?" I asked.

"I'm a son of Poseidon," he replied. "I'm drawn to water."

"Oh," was all I said. There was silence for a while. It wasn't awkward, though. It almost felt like if we talked, it would disappear, it was so delicate. This is perfect, I thought. As if in response, tiny, coin sized balls of light filtered through the trees and into the clearing. Like magically overgrown fireflies.

Percy slipped his arm around me, and I rested my head on his shoulder. Quiet music started playing. It sounded like it was all around us, enveloping us in the beautiful melody.

I started to feel drowsy, but wanted to stay awake all night, just the two of us, here in this magical place, time standing still.

"Annabeth…" Percy murmured in my ear. I turned my head and his lips met mine. Then he wrapped me in a warm embrace. We stood there for several moments. I didn't want it to end. But soon Percy let go of me, then reached for my hand.

"Come on," he said quietly. "Let's join the others." And so we walked, hand in hand, like some couple from a fairy tale, back to the other campers. I will never forget this night, I thought to myself.


End file.
